Thomas Alan Stephenson was born in 1898 at Burnham-on-Sea,
Somerset, the eldest son of Dr Thomas Stephenson, a Wesleyan
Minister and distinguished botanist.

Thomas Alan soon became interested in natural history and
commenced a degree at University College, Aberystwyth, but
in 1915 illness forced him to abandon the course. However
during this time he had started to study sea anemones, for
which he would later become world-famous. He showed such great
potential that, unusually, he was taken on to the college
staff. He later qualified with a doctorate awarded in recognition
of his published papers.

Stephenson's first major collecting trip was with the Natural
History Museum Great Barrier Reef Expedition (1928-29), for
whom he wrote the scientific papers on the Australian corals
in the official report. From 1947 to 1948 he studied the Pacific
and Atlantic coasts of North America, and in 1952 he spent
three months in Bermuda. As always, Stephenson's scientific
work was meticulous. In addition to studying individual species,
he conducted extensive surveys to investigate the biology
of marine organisms. He was also a particularly gifted artist.
Sea anemones gave him tremendous scope to express his love
of colours, patterns and diversity of the animal world in
water. He wrote the definitive two- volume work, British
Sea Anemones (1928-1935) for the Ray Society and many
more papers on sea anemones and the marine biology of South
Africa and North America, illustrated with his own delightful
paintings.

Stephenson went on to hold a succession of academic posts:
lecturer in zoology at University College London 1922-1930,
Chair of Zoology at the University of Cape Town 1930-1940,
and Chair of Zoology at Aberystwyth 1940-1961. He was made
a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1951. In 1922 he married
Anne Wood, who often travelled with him and collaborated on
his scientific work. Stephenson died in 1961.

Drawing overview

This drawing of iridescent seaweeds on the shore of North
Rock, Bermuda, was probably painted in the summer of 1952
when Stephenson spent three months on the island. In this
painting, Stephenson conveys the beauty and colours of marine
life in a rock pool rather than any individual organism.

Seaweeds

Seaweeds
are large marine algae that grow almost exclusively in the
shallow waters at the edge of the world's oceans and play
a very important ecological role in many marine communities.
A food source for marine animals such as sea urchins and fishes,
they also provide shelter for numerous fishes, invertebrates,
birds and mammals.

Seaweeds possess holdfasts, which are used as anchors and
are made up of many fingerlike projections called haptera.

The Thomas Stephenson Drawings
Collection

The library holds several more paintings by Stephenson including
some that were published in British Sea Anemones (1928-1935),
and has some examples of field notes and diagrams done on
the Great Barrier Reef expedition, 1928-29.

Exhibition and publication details

Since its donation to the Museum, this drawing has not been
on public display.

References and further reading

Cavaliere, A. R. (1994) Marine Algae of Bermuda: A Field
Guide to Common Inshore and Shallow Water Species. Special
Publication. Bermuda Biological Station for Research no.
33. 140pp.